What the post-digital era will look like

Today, digital technology is a strategic priority for every business. In the Accenture Technology Vision 2019 survey of more than 6,600 business and IT executives, 94 percent of respondents said the pace of technology innovation in their organizations had either accelerated or significantly accelerated over the past three years.

Given their collective prioritization of digital technology, every company will eventually converge on the same turning point—one where digital-era technology, which began as a differentiating advantage, is something expected from every business. In other words: The digital playing field will eventually even out.

So, what will this new, “post-digital” world look like? It will be characterized by companies looking for the next competitive edge.

Companies already face a new level of expectations from consumers, employees and business partners. Businesses have used the power of digitally driven mass customization to sell two different options of a good or service, then 10 different options, then 100 different options. Companies’ success with this approach has fostered for them the illusion that they can meet any need, no matter how personal or custom.

Businesses will need to turn that illusion into reality if they want to meet rising expectations. The coming era will be characterized by massive pressure as customers, employees and society make their demands known. But it will also provide tremendous opportunities for those companies that can deliver the appropriate experience at just the right time.

How to confront the realities of the post-digital future

The post-digital era will be one where each consumer, employee and business partner will have their own reality, and every moment will represent an opportunity for companies to play a role in shaping it. Organizations will need to deliver not just personalized, but also individualized experiences to meet digitally mature expectations.

Meeting that challenge will require businesses to acknowledge that they’re not alone on their digital transformations. People have been transforming too. Customers, employees and even threat actors will reflect different post-digital realities. Our five trends examine what the post-digital world will look like from the perspectives of these groups—so critical to every company’s success—and the technologies that will help businesses lead in this next phase of innovation.

"A post-digital world doesn’t mean that digital is over. On the contrary, we’re posing a new question: as all organizations develop their digital competency, what will set YOU apart?"

Explore our technology trends

These five tech trends are creating the foundation for the post-digital era.

DARQ Power: Understanding the DNA of DARQ
New technologies are a catalyst for change. The next set of technologies every company will need to master? DARQ: distributed ledger technology (DLT), artificial intelligence (AI), extended reality (XR) and quantum computing. DARQ technologies will be the next source of differentiation and disruptive technology. As these technologies reach maturity and converge, they will let businesses expand upon their digital capabilities to build intelligent and highly customized, in-the-moment experiences that help shape the lives of their customers, business partners and employees.

Human+ Worker: Change the workplace or hinder the workforce
People are incorporating technology-driven capabilities alongside their existing skills and experience to do new kinds of work, in new ways. Now, companies must adapt their technology strategies to support the realities of working in the post-digital age.

The Big Read

Full report

Get the executive summary, all five trends and the bigger picture. Find out how this year’s report fits within our current three-year set of technology trends. Dig into the full Tech Vision, from start to finish.